Leading Jewish faculty voiced support for UC Berkeley‘s chancellor, who is appearing Tuesday morning before an influential congressional committee probing allegations of campus antisemitism.
Chancellor Rich Lyons joined leaders of the City University of New York and Georgetown University in Washington, where the House Education & Workforce Committee interrogated them in the latest high-profile hearing examining how universities have responded to pro-Palestinian protests and allegations of anti-Jewish hatred since late 2023.
Berkeley is under multiple federal investigations over allegations that it has violated the civil rights of Jewish students and faculty. Lyons, who became chancellor a year ago, is the first UC leader to face the House committee during the Trump presidency.
“As a public institution, Berkeley has a solemn obligation to protect the quintessential American value of free speech,” Lyons said in his opening remarks. “This obligation does not prevent us, let me repeat, does not prevent us from confronting harassment and discrimination in all its forms, including antisemitism.”
On Monday, 82 Jewish UC Berkeley faculty members sent a letter to the House committee saying that despite “moments of unease and, at times, physical threats” against Jewish community members in recent years, the Bay Area campus was overall safe for Jews.
“As Jewish faculty who frequently engage with campus leadership and remain vigilant about the well-being of the Jewish campus community, we reject the claim that UC Berkeley is an antisemitic environment,” the letter said. “We write to affirm that we feel secure on campus and support the administration’s efforts to balance safety with respect for free speech.”
The letter was organized by Ken Goldberg, professor of industrial engineering and operations research, and Ethan Katz, associate professor in the history department and the Center for Jewish Studies. The signatories included some of the campus’ best-known scholars, among them Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of Berkeley Law and a 1st Amendment expert.
Separately, a UC union and faculty association released a joint statement Monday condemning the hearing as an attempt by Trump administration allies to “limit free speech.”
“The hearing is the most recent in a series of attacks that are part of the MAGA agenda to defund higher education and limit free speech on campuses across the country,” said the statement from University Council-American Federation of Teachers (UC-AFT) and the Council of University of California Faculty Assns. UC-AFT represents 6,800 lecturers, part-time faculty and librarians across the university system.
“The Trump administration is cynically targeting higher education at every level. The freedom of both faculty and students to teach, write, and research is a cornerstone of the U.S. university system and must be defended,” the statement said.
Pro-Palestinian faculty from the universities that are subject to the hearing also released a statement Tuesday.
“These congressional hearings are not about actually addressing antisemitism in higher education. Rather, their agenda is to bring the higher education sector to heel,” said the statement signed by faculty and staff for justice in Palestine groups at CUNY, Georgetown and UC Berkeley as well as the Georgetown American Assn. of University Professors and the Jewish Voice for Peace Academic Council.
They called on university leaders to “oppose the weaponization of antisemitism through the equation of Jewish safety with the silencing and exclusion of those who speak up for Palestinian freedom and an end to genocide.”
In a statement, committee Chair Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) said the hearing focused on the “underlying factors instigating antisemitic upheaval and hatred on campus.”
“Until these factors — such as foreign funding and antisemitic student and faculty groups — are addressed, antisemitism will persist on college campuses,” Walberg said.
In remarks Tuesday, Walberg singled out Students for Justice in Palestine chapters and allied campus employee chapters, Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine, that have grown across universities in the last 18 months.
Trump and Republican allies have also broadly accused campuses of being too open to influence from foreign funding, and accused Harvard and Berkeley of not following U.S. law that requires educational institutions to annually disclose gifts valued at $250,000 or more. Those accusations have focused on connections between the Chinese government and Chinese organizations to the universities.
Harvard and Berkeley said they follow the law.
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